When the district was created in 2014, the Council established a goal that at least 300 units or 20 percent of the projected number of new housing units be affordable within the district. Approval of this development now meets this Council’s goal.

This will be the second phase of the affordable housing development. As construction will begin soon on Greenfield Commons, another 80 units of affordable rental housing for families at Greenfield Place is nearing completion. The development is located on a nine-acre site adjacent to Chapel Hill Memorial Cemetery on Legion Road.

The Town of Chapel Hill conveyed Town-owned property for the affordable housing development for $100. The land was identified previously in an asset review list of real estate holdings that could be sold to meet Town goals.

The ProjectThe project is being led by DHIC Inc., the Triangle area's oldest and largest nonprofit housing organization. Since 1974, the agency has built or renovated and subsequently managed more than 1,500 affordable rental homes and 400 homes for sale. DHIC began working with the Town to develop affordable housing on this site in 2014.

DHIC received low income housing tax credits to assist with development and construction costs from the NC Housing Finance Agency (NCHFA) in August 2016. DHIC also received low income housing tax credits to build phase one of this project, Greenfield Place.

The GoalsWithin the Blue Hill District, the Council established a goal that at least 20 percent of new housing units be affordable. That’s 300 units – a number based on projections for possible new residential units that could be built here. The Greenfield projects make substantial progress toward this goal. To date, 743 housing units have been approved within the district. The Greenfield projects account for 149 of those new units, resulting in just over 20 percent of the approved units within the district being affordable, in line with the 2014 Town Council goal.

“We are pleased that this new development will provide much needed affordable rental housing in our community,” said Loryn Clark, executive director of Housing and Community at the Town of Chapel Hill. “We’ve formed a great partnership with DHIC and we hope to work with their team again in the future.”

The affordable rental development will continue to advance the Town’s goals to increase the availability of and access to housing, to expand socioeconomic diversity, to provide people with the ability to remain in Chapel Hill through different stages in their lives, and to support employee recruitment and retention.